Florida State opens as a 12-point favorite against Northern Illinois

The Florida State Seminoles host the Northern Illinois Huskies Saturday. The opening betting line on the game is the Seminoles favored by 12 points. It has already been bet down to 10 in some places.

Yes, really.

The game is set to kick off at 3:30.

Florida State is coming off a loss against Syracuse in which it failed to cover a spread of 3 points.

NIU is coming off a against 24-16 win over Central Michigan in which it failed to cover a spread of 14 points.

The over/under for the total points to be scored in the game is not available until later in the week.

Early lines are inherently volatile. They can swing on injury information or public perception. As such, the max bet size on these is very low early in the week. As the picture of the game becomes clearer, the maximum bet size will increase.

Florida State’s record against the spread this season is 0-2 or 0-3, depending on whether you consider FCS lines to be widely available enough to count in a record.

The total is 43

This is one of the lowest totals I have seen for a Florida State game in some time. And it is the second-lowest total of the weekend, trailing only Wisconsin at Iowa, which is posted at 41.5.

Will either team be able to score 20 points? Florida State and Northern Illinois both have good defenses and downright atrocious offenses to date.